Mary Schadler’s family started ranching at the Cowhead Ranch in northern California in the late 1800s. Today, the operation has grown to 10,000 acres of irrigated and dryland hay, pasture and rangeland, grazing permits on several hundred thousand federally owned acres, 1,200 cows with a spring herd based out of the current home operation in Adel, Oregon, and a fall herd located near McDermitt, Nevada. Mary now manages the ranch with her sister, Sherry Schadler.
Being the fifth generation in her family to ranch, Mary knows what it’s like to feel that warm pull of family history.
“Our family legacy means several things to me,” says Mary. “It’s care for the group, the family. Continuity. Like it’s my turn, and I need to be a good steward of the land and leave it better than it was given to me to care for.”
Stewardship and legacy fit hand in glove with membership in Country Natural Beef (CNB). The CNB cooperative is made up of around 100 ranch members like Mary who focus on caring for the land, the animals raised on it and the families who own it.
Schadler Ranch has been a member of Country Natural Beef for nine years, and today all cattle raised on the ranch are placed through CNB. Mary values the consistent, premium prices.
“I don’t like the idea of just going to market and seeing what cattle bring that day,” says Mary. “Through CNB we get a premium for the cattle we produce. I just like the security, that levelness that the co-op brings to the business. It brings more consistency and takes up the variation in the market.”
A key CNB member benefit is sharing in the revenues generated through the sale of premium beef products. There’s pride in knowing you’re raising something of value to consumers.
“I’m doing things the way I think they should be done, and I appreciate that the consumer is willing to pay for it,” says Mary. “At the end of the day we have to sell our products, so we have to make our customers happy. I’m just happy that what I’m doing to raise beef is what they’d like me to be doing.”
Ranchers working together to sell consumers premium beef and together sharing the profits. That’s something Mary’s great grandfather, a cabinet maker from Germany who bought a ranch in California, would never have imagined. Mary says she hopes she’s building a business her kids and nieces want to take over and keep the legacy going.
To learn more about Country Natural Beef members and their values, visit countrynaturalbeef.com/membership.
